Middle-Earth Madness- Map of Middle-Earth Coasters

I've been married for nearly 8 years and I am still unpacking boxes. **insert mournful violin music here.** 

 Now that I have been out of the work force for a while and we are living in our first sort of permanent home that isn't a crap college town apartment I have finally taken the time to unpack some of those boxes and decide what to do with the contents. Amongst the assorted kitchen gadgets and hopeless tangle of random electronics I found two sets of glass coasters into which can be inserted a picture for your sentimental pleasure. I am pretty sure these were a wedding shower gift and we were supposed to use them to display wedding photos or maybe pictures of our offspring, of which we have none. Not finding them particularly pleasing but also not wishing to be wasteful I brainstormed on something interesting I could do with them before I relinquished them to the thrift store.

After having a think I decided they had to be LoTR themed because of course they do, and what would be more interesting on a coaster than the map of Middle-Earth. So I searched the inter-webs for a cheap map that I could cut to ribbons without guilt and I finally found one here on Amazon. The quality was surprisingly good so I would absolutely recommend this one for all your Middle-Earth map needs. Once that came in the mail the rest was exceptionally easy.

Firstly, choose which parts of the map you want to display and cut them out using the coasters themselves as a guide. I recommend cutting a few extras so you have a few to choose from. Other options you could go with for making these if you don't want to do a map would be : silk or dried flowers, glitter, wrapping or tissue paper, stationary or even scrapbooking decorations could work. You may have to add a few more layers of Mod Podge on these to get the surface even.














                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Once this was done, simply apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the coaster, stick the cut square down as straight as you can and take your time smoothing it out which will help you get a smooth surface with no bumps of glue underneath. Let that sit for a bit and then apply another even layer of the Mod Podge over the top. Allow these dry for a day or so and you now have a stylish set of nerd decor coasters. **Please note  when making these that regular old craft Mod Podge will not be water proof so if you are using these for more than decorations then I would recommend using the Mod Podge Water Base Sealer in order to water proof them.**

If you would like to watch the accompanying video you can check it out here. Ok, bye!